Personality Traits and Social Anxiety: Telehealth Solutions

Ever feel overwhelmed by the anxiety of social situations? Personality traits play a significant role in social anxiety disorder, but understanding these connections can empower you to seek help. Dive into this article to discover how telehealth solutions can offer personalized support to help you navigate your journey to confidence and connection.

Personality And Social Anxiety Disorder: The Value Of Telehealth Support

Typically characterized by persistent and overwhelming nervousness and worry surrounding social situations, social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a mental illness that can affect how individuals interact with others and function in day-to-day life. In some cases, SAD can be associated with various personality traits, such as higher-than-average neuroticism and lower-than-average extraversion. For professional help coping with symptoms of social anxiety disorder, consider scheduling a telehealth session with a licensed clinical social worker who specializes in anxiety disorders.

Understanding social anxiety disorder

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) can be defined as a mental illness usually marked by nervousness and worry in social situations. One of the most common symptoms of social anxiety disorder may be a persistent and overwhelming fear of being evaluated negatively in social situations. While some nervousness can be common in many situations, such as on a date or during a presentation, those with SAD often feel strong feelings of anxiety and self-consciousness during day-to-day interactions.

Impact on daily functioning

For someone experiencing social anxiety, symptoms may significantly disrupt daily life. They may have trouble maintaining healthy relationships, experience limitations in their professional or academic pursuits, and miss out on activities they enjoy due to overwhelming fear of social judgment.

Evidence-based treatment approaches

Those who live with social anxiety disorder typically benefit from professional treatment to alleviate symptoms. Effective treatment often consists of therapy, particularly cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), which can be delivered effectively through telehealth platforms. Many people who live with social anxiety disorder experience improvements in their abilities to interact with others, maintain relationships, and participate in social activities after receiving consistent therapeutic support.

Personality traits and their relationship to social anxiety disorder

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) can present in many ways, but it is frequently characterized by specific fears and worries that may be related to certain personality traits.

For example, someone who is afraid of being judged could experience social anxiety due to low self-esteem or heightened sensitivity to criticism.

Research suggests that understanding personality traits can help create more personalized treatment approaches for social anxiety disorder, allowing licensed clinical social workers to tailor interventions to the individual’s specific presentation and needs.

The Big Five personality model and SAD

A study titled “Higher- and lower-order personality traits and cluster subtypes in social anxiety disorder” elucidates the relationship between personality traits and social anxiety disorder. This research examined various facets of personality using the five-factor model, which measures the Big Five personality traits:

• Neuroticism
• Extraversion
• Openness
• Agreeableness
• Conscientiousness

Previous research found that those diagnosed with SAD usually score higher for the neuroticism personality trait and lower for the extraversion trait on average.

Research insights on personality and social anxiety disorder

The diversity of SAD’s presentation has long been recognized by mental health professionals, and researchers have previously attempted to divide social anxiety disorder into subtypes. However, these subtypes have not always been supported by clinical research. The study “Higher- and lower-order personality traits and cluster subtypes in social anxiety disorder” aimed to create new categorizations based on personality, through the lens of the Big Five traits.

Before beginning this study, researchers generally expected that those with SAD would likely have higher levels of neuroticism and lower extraversion than the control group would. They also expected higher scores on personality items related to anxiety and behavioral inhibition.

Study methodology and participant criteria

When setting up the study, 265 individuals with SAD and 164 controls without a SAD diagnosis were given personality tests in a home environment. All participants in this study were volunteers in a neuroimaging trial, and the details were gathered between 1998 and 2018.

Participant profiles

All individuals in this trial with a SAD diagnosis typically had a marked fear of social situations and public speaking. Of the individuals involved in the trial, 44 were diagnosed with a comorbid Axis I disorder, 21 had two comorbidities, and two individuals had three comorbidities.

Comorbid conditions included generalized anxiety disorder, specific phobias, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and mild depression.

Assessment tools for personality measurement

To assess personality, the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) and Karolinska Scales of Personality (KSP) were used. The NEO-PI-R normally consists of 240 items that can be rated from zero (absolute disagreement) to four (absolute agreement).

The KSP inventory

The KSP inventory usually has 135 items grouped into 15 scales. Five of these scales typically consider the propensity of an individual to experience anxiety states, three of these scales may consider the susceptibility to behavioral disinhibition, and the remaining scales can be associated with hostility and aggression.

Key findings and implications

When looking at the study results, there were usually several personality trait differences between the control group and the participants diagnosed with SAD. Those living with SAD frequently had higher scores related to anxiety, vulnerability, irritability, detachment, and indirect aggression, as well as lower scores related to socialization than the control group without a SAD diagnosis.

Personality correlations with SAD

The NEO-PI-R instrument generally showed a positive correlation between neuroticism—which tends to be related to anxiety, worry, and low self-confidence—and SAD symptoms. There was usually also a negative correlation between extraversion—which can refer to sociability—and SAD symptoms. While there may have been associations between SAD and multiple other domains of personality, neuroticism and extraversion were generally the strongest indicators of whether someone would have a SAD diagnosis.

Study findings also showed those with SAD often have lower assertiveness scores and higher self-consciousness scores, along with lower scores on the positive emotion sections of the analysis. Those living with SAD usually also scored lower on conscientiousness, which can refer to an individual’s ability to make sound decisions, work hard, and be responsible.

Identified subtypes of social anxiety disorder

Another goal of this study may have been to identify subtypes of SAD based on the Big Five personality dimensions. When performing an analysis of the results of the study, three personality cluster types were found.

• Prototypical Cluster: These individuals typically had higher levels of neuroticism and lower levels of extraversion and openness than other clusters. They also tended to show low trust, competence, achievement-striving, and self-discipline relative to the control group. This cluster usually had the highest level of social anxiety symptom severity.
• Introvert-Conscientious Cluster: These individuals included 29% of the sample and were generally characterized by higher conscientiousness levels (similar to the controls) and lower levels of neuroticism than other clusters. In this group, participants typically scored low on openness and impulsivity. They also tended to show lower somatic anxiety and irritability but similar levels of guilt as the controls.
• Instable-Open Cluster: This cluster was the largest, making up 38% of the sample. These individuals normally had very high levels of neuroticism but similar openness levels to controls. They also usually scored high on extraversion scales. They may have been indistinguishable from controls related to activity and excitement seeking but tended to score higher on impulsivity compared to other groups.

Implications for personalized treatment

The findings of this study may further highlight the connections between high levels of neuroticism, low levels of extraversion, and the likelihood of developing social anxiety disorder. The study may have also shown that social anxiety can differ based on the individual, which could necessitate treatment that is more tailored to specific versions of the disorder.

Researchers noted that only one-third of the participants generally matched the personality type that was previously thought to dominate the disorder, which they labeled prototypical. They found that there were often differences in participants’ negative emotions, openness to ideas, excitement-seeking, and ability to be self-reliant. This finding may be useful, not only for practitioners to understand the presentation and treatment of social anxiety, but also for individuals to understand how personality traits and social anxiety may be intertwined.

Advantages of telehealth therapy for social anxiety disorder

If you believe you may be experiencing social anxiety and want to understand your treatment options, the licensed clinical social workers at ReachLink can provide specialized support for your mental health needs. With telehealth therapy through ReachLink, you can connect with a mental health professional who knows how to address your specific areas of concern from the comfort and privacy of your own home—an environment that may feel safer for those with social anxiety.

The telehealth approach offers several unique advantages for individuals with social anxiety:

• Reduced initial anxiety: Connecting from a familiar environment can lower the threshold of anxiety that might otherwise prevent someone from seeking help
• Accessibility: Eliminates transportation barriers and the stress of navigating unfamiliar locations
• Flexibility: Offers appointment times that work with your schedule
• Privacy: Reduces concerns about being seen entering a therapist’s office
• Gradual exposure: Allows for a more controlled therapeutic environment that can be gradually expanded as comfort increases

Research supporting telehealth for social anxiety treatment

Research shows that online therapy can help individuals with social anxiety work through their symptoms effectively. For example, in one study, researchers found that online cognitive behavioral therapy could significantly decrease symptoms of social anxiety disorder in adolescents, noting that 47% of participants no longer met the criteria for SAD after treatment.

ReachLink’s licensed clinical social workers are trained in evidence-based therapeutic approaches that have been shown to be effective for social anxiety disorder, including:

• Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)
• Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)
• Exposure therapy
• Social skills training
• Mindfulness-based interventions

Conclusion

Social anxiety disorder can be a complex mental health condition that may affect numerous aspects of an individual’s life. Understanding how SAD interacts with personality can help you better comprehend its characteristics and the ways it may present in your life. If you’d like support as you work through social anxiety or similar challenges, help is available through ReachLink’s telehealth platform.

A licensed clinical social worker can provide you with the tools and guidance you need to address your fears, reduce your symptoms, and live life on your terms. Through personalized therapeutic approaches that consider your unique personality traits and specific manifestation of social anxiety, you can develop effective strategies for managing anxiety and improving your quality of life.